Speeches

Mr President, the Draghi report recognises that Europe has stagnated in industrial policy and innovation and that the green and digital transitions will be a mirage if nothing is done. But change requires three choices that the neoliberal consensus that governs Europe refuses. Public services: there are no skills or innovation without public education, public science and public institutions that invest in lines of research that do not give quick returns, but that make a difference in the long run. State-owned enterprises: to ensure, develop and enhance skills. Privatization and financialization have destroyed some of Europe's most innovative companies. Draghi's proposal only seems to reinforce this trend. Thirdly, public planning. Leaving the market only gave parasitic rentism and inequality. We can and should do much better. Decarbonisation, climate justice, renewal and expansion of public services are a strategy to put skills at the service of a better life, a good life.

Mr President, how can we explain different wages between workers side by side, the same roles, the same job, responsibilities and qualifications? Chama‑se outsourcing, subcontracting or other schemes to lower wages, protect employers and place workers against workers. Also called ‑se xenophobia: Refusing to regularise migrant workers is another way to lower wages. ‑ is the abuse of those who are most unprotected because they are subcontracted, undocumented, female or minority, to lower everyone's wages. The scheme is old: direct competition between workers and between countries, in a wage race to the bottom, in traditional sectors such as the digital economy. The European Commission could also call it unfair competition, but it doesn't. It says beautiful things about employment and then imposes the worst economic and labour practices. I congratulate the rapporteur Li Andersson for reminding me of this by demanding collective bargaining, social responsibility and just transition. Let the European institutions and governments know how to answer for this.

Mr President, stigma, lack of health care and deteriorating living conditions have aggravated the mental health crisis. Younger generations have pushed the issue into the public debate, but answers are still missing. There are three main obstacles. Prejudice: To mark World Mental Health Day is also to combat silencing and disinformation. Lack of accessible care for all: when European health services were built, there was no awareness of the centrality of mental health; today, we need to add this dimension to public services and not make it a new area of business. Holding: mental health is the result of multiple realities, including work – this year’s theme is particularly important. Precariousness, unregulated schedules, uberization and inhumane work rhythms deteriorate mental health as well. To be poor, to be a woman, to be a racialized person or to be LGBTQIA+ is to be at risk, and it is not by chance. We need another organization of work, school and neighbourhood, a safe public space also in social networks and the digital world, the right to housing and care, a just transition. Mental health is public health; It requires diverse health care, from hospital to community, and it requires much more than health care. It is the society we are that determines the health we have.

Mr President, the regulation of medical devices has been created following a series of scandals and is absolutely essential. We can re-evaluate regulations and deadlines, but we will not lower criteria to please the industry. Security first. I leave four other priorities. Accessibility: There are commercial interests that have limited patients' rights. It is imperative to ensure that the entire population, especially the most vulnerable, has access to the medical devices they need. Transparency: the rationale for licensing must be available to the entire scientific community. Privacy: ensure that data collected by devices is not treated as merchandise or used for other purposes. And finally, regulation: the role of the European Medicines Agency is crucial and does not dispense with the intervention of the competent authorities of each country.

Madam President, abandoned land is burned land. Depopulation, lack of registration, austerity even in the forest and one of the largest eucalyptus areas in the world make Portugal a barrel of gunpowder. In 2024, we cried again, and we have the largest burnt area since the tragedies of 2017. When the rain comes, those who suffered the fire live in fear of landslides, and those who have responsibility for the safety of populations, such as firefighters or sappers, have no means or dignified career. To use the criminal debate to hide the lack of investment and devalue climate change is to protect major economic interests. Fires only reach this size because the territory is pasture for any ignition, criminal, accidental or natural. Climate inaction by the European Union and its Member States is the greatest threat to people's security.

Mr President, there are two mistakes to avoid in public health matters: alarmism and disinformation. The outbreak of Mpox type 1 poses little risk to Europe and we should not make abusive comparisons with other situations. We are facing a public health emergency in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring regions, which requires European solidarity and planning. Solidarity because it is our humanitarian obligation. Solidarity because diseases are not fought with borders or armies, they are fought with vaccines, treatment and prevention. The variant currently circulating proves to be more dangerous, including for children. It is therefore not possible to explain the refusal of some Member States to increase donations, and the European Commission should make public the stock Vaccines in Europe. It would be unforgivable to postpone the donation of vaccines so that we are in the position of seeing vaccines already out of date in Europe, while the outbreak continues to claim victims in Africa. We need to do more to support the decentralisation of vaccine production, its development and also testing capacity. Epidemiological surveillance is guaranteed and all populations are protected only by rapid testing in regions where cases are reported. Lives have to be worth more than pharmaceutical profits. Secondly, Europe must have a contingency plan. I would remind you that there was only one case in the whole of the European Union and it was quickly brought under control. No alarmism, then. But to know the stock The aim of vaccines is also to protect the European population. In addition, the European Union should be able to draw up common and clear guidelines for travellers and ensure the best information for healthcare professionals, both for their protection and to ensure that any new cases are reported. Finally, public health services across the European Union need more investment and better care for their professionals. It will not be private health services that will make prevention or that will be able to respond to public health challenges.

Madam President, my gratitude to all those who are fighting against the flames that are devastating Portugal, who fought against the torrents of water that flooded Central Europe over the weekend, my solidarity with the people and my sorrow for all the victims. European solidarity in the civil protection effort and recovery is key, but we need more. Disasters can be natural, but the causes are very human, as these days prove. Climate change is happening faster and more intensely than expected and is the biggest threat to people's security. Every day that European institutions and governments delay their mitigation, the restoration of nature and the adaptation of territory and human infrastructure is the certainty of new disasters.

Madam President, Israel uses European weapons to kill innocent people, to kill children, to kill journalists and human rights activists. My own country, Portugal, keeps the flag on a boat carrying weapons to Israel, in violation of UN instructions, in an attitude complicit in genocide. The world is watching the genocide live, and even with the Israeli leaders themselves publicly confessing their intentions, the European institutions are not able to support Palestine and sanction Israel. Here in Parliament today, we have been quicker to ban the use of a Palestinian symbol, while the European Union has not yet been able to impose a sanction against Israel. As a result, the European Union loses credibility every day in the eyes of the world and its citizens. Protests against genocide are multiplying across Europe and these voices must be heard. History will not fail to judge those who today collaborate with the genocide in Gaza.

Madam President, the Draghi report has two merits: recognises the backwardness to which liberal policies have led Europe and assumes that we need massive investment. However, it fails in three fundamental choices. It advocates more market concentration, while ignoring the role of the state, including state-owned enterprises, in planning and implementing development strategies for Europe. Are we going to hand over the money and public interests to the private giants that have weakened our countries? It does not propose mechanisms for a fair distribution of investment. In this competitiveness, those who already have more difficulties are left behind. Finally, it proposes to pay the common investment with austerity in each of the countries. Anyone who, like me, comes from a country on the periphery of the euro knows very well how this idea can devastate the economy. With these choices, the grand plan turns out to be more of the same and will exacerbate inequalities in Europe.

Madam President, tens of thousands of people have been killed, especially women and children, hospitals and schools destroyed, in Gaza they are killing bombs, starvation and disease. The UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine states that Israel has deliberately distorted basic principles of international law such as the distinction between civilians and combatants and the principle of proportionality. Israel is bombing the areas it has designated as safe, we are witnessing genocide. The European Union has special responsibilities, it maintains an association agreement with Israel. It is also the weapons and European money that kill in Gaza. Everybody's watching. Everyone is seeing double standards in their commitment to human rights and international law. A debate on the situation in Gaza at the beginning of the parliamentary term gives credibility to the European Parliament. We therefore propose adding a debate on upholding international humanitarian law in Gaza as the first item on this afternoon's agenda.